The Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre was founded in 1964 and was the first official Orang-utan Rehabilitation Project with the aim of returning orphaned, injured and displaced orang-utans back to the wild.
In recent years, the project was expanded to include public education on conservation and research of orang-utans. The rehabilitation centre was further expanded to house other endangered species such as the rhinoceros.
Rehabilitation Process
1. Admission
Rehabilitation starts when an orang-utan is admitted into the centre. This include orang-utans who are illegally held captive to be traded as pets and orang-utans who are either injured or sick and required medical attention.
2. Quarantine
Orang-utans are given a health examination followed by a 3 to 6 months quarantine period to eliminate the risk of them spreading diseases to others.
3. Nursery
This is where young orang-utans learn skills necessary for survival .These skills will be taught here in which they will undergo a “preschool” training to equip them with skills essential to survival in the jungle. For example, the ability to climb trees.
a) Platform A (Outward Bound School)
This is the place where orang-utans are granted more freedom and are encouraged to learn to fend for themselves. In addition, dependence on food and emotional support given by the rehabilitation centre is reduced gradually.
b) Platform B (Survival Training)
When signs of independence are observed in the orang-utans, food and emotional support is further reduced and they eventually gained total independence and are ready to be release back into the wild.
The centre is open to the public where they are able to view the feeding of the animals. It also has an information centre to educate and educate people on the importance of conservation and stressing the need to protect the orang-utans and other endangered animals.